What to know about DNC 2020 night three

The spotlight will be fixed on Sen. Kamala Harris Wednesday during the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

The Democrats’ vice presidential nominee might currently represent California, but Harris will deliver her convention speech 2,800 miles away in Wilmington, Del., the home of former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

“Joe Biden had the audacity to choose a Black woman to be his running mate. How incredible is that?” Harris said in an interview with The 19th, a nonprofit outlet that reports on gender, politics, and policy. “And what a statement that is about Joe Biden, that he decided he was going to do that thing that was about breaking one of the most substantial barriers that has existed in our country, and he made that decision with whatever risk that brings.”

With so much attention focused on Harris, it’s easy to overlook the other headliners speaking Wednesday, including former President Barack Obama, who will be delivering his speech from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Obama is expected to talk about working with Biden in the White House and President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on mail-in voting and the Postal Service.

“What we’ve seen in a way that is unique to modern political history is a president who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting,” Obama said during an podcast interview with David Plouffe, his former campaign manager. “What we’ve never seen before is a president say, ‘I’m going to try to actively kneecap the postal service to encourage voting and I will be explicit about the reason I’m doing it.’”

Like previous nights, the speeches will be sandwiched by testimonials and musical acts, including performances by Billie Eilish and Jennifer Hudson

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention:

The third night of the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last two hours.

The convention will stream live on the DNC’s website and across all their social media channels. In Philadelphia, it will also air live on NBC, ABC, CBS, and WHYY, with most networks opting to carry the final hour beginning at 10 p.m. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News will also offer live coverage starting hours before the event begins, each offering their own analysis.

Comcast Xfinity X1 subscribers can watch all the programming by simply saying “DNC” into their remote.

You can also stream it live on Inquirer.com, courtesy of the DNC:

Former President Barack Obama headlines the speakers Wednesday. The full list includes:

The most powerful moment Tuesday night came from someone unable to speak.

Ady Barkan, a health care activist robbed of the ability to speak by ALS, spoke passionately through his computer about the need for universal health care in the United States.

“Like so many of you, I have experienced the ways our health care system is fundamentally broken,” Barkan said. “Enormous costs, denied claims, dehumanizing treatment when we are most in need.”

Jill Biden, a Philadelphia native who CNN’s Jake Tapper noted “hasn’t lost her Willow Grove accent,” didn’t mention Trump in a speech that focused more on her husband’s empathy and their joint determination to overcome the loss of their son, Beau, who died in 2015 of brain cancer.

“Four days after Beau’s funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit,” Biden said from the Wilmington classroom where she used to teach. “I saw him steel himself in the mirror — take a breath put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That’s just who he is.”

The Democratic National Convention is taking place over four nights this week. It began Monday and will run through Thursday. Convention programming is scheduled to air live each night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern.

Thursday night will be the final night of the convention, capped by a speech from former Vice President Joe Biden. Other notable speakers on the schedule into a pair of local lawmakers — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.

While political conventions have largely grown into television events designed to promote political parties and their leaders, the business of the convention includes formalizing a party platform, which was updated at the end of July. It is based on a report issued by joint task forces organized by Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who garnered the second most delegates during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

To the dismay of some of the party’s more progressive members, the platform doesn’t include a plan for a single-payer health care system, like “Medicare for all.” Instead, it calls for the addition of a public option to the existing Affordable Care Act.

There will also be a formal vote of delegates to officially nominate Biden as the party’s presidential nominee.

The 2020 Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin Monday, Aug. 24. President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday he plans to deliver his acceptance speech from the lawn of the White House. He is also expected to be the central focus each night.

Republicans haven’t yet released an official list of speakers, but in addition to the Trump family, other Republicans reportedly expected to deliver remarks include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Sean Parnell. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to deliver his speech on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

Also expected to speak during the Republican National Convention are Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Protesters outside their home in June.